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A BILL
mandating the establishment of a provident
personal-savings plan for the country’s retirees has
been approved on third and final reading by the House of
Representatives.
House
Bill 3754, or the Personal Equity and Retirement Account
(Pera) Act of 2008, seeks to establish a long-term
savings plan to provide those who reach old age with a
comfortable and financially secure retirement.
Legislators said the bill will also increase savings
mobilization and accelerate capital-market development
by creating a legal and regulatory framework of
retirement plans for persons, comprised of voluntary
personal savings and investment.
Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Ramon Durano of Cebu,
one of the bill’s authors, said the government should be
prepared for the social and economic challenges arising
from the eventual growth of the elderly segment of the
population.
Durano
said 61 percent of the country’s population falls
between the 15-to-64 age bracket with the elderly
population expected to rise yearly.
“We have
the looming specter of an increase in elderly
population, and the government must do what it can to
ensure that when a person gets old, he or she will have
sufficient income security during his/her retirement
years,” said Durano.
Lakas
Rep. Marcelino Teodoro of Marikina, another author of
the bill, said many people view retirement with
apprehension since it means loss of income due to lack
of sufficient benefits.
“Through
it, Filipinos will be called upon and be obliged
sufficient awareness and understanding on the importance
of savings and the necessity that everyone start the
habit as soon as possible,” Teodoro said.
Teodoro
said the Pera is a flexible scheme since in case of an
emergency, one can withdraw one’s money or a portion of
one’s savings from the fund with hardly any
inconvenience.
“Instead
of being ambivalent about retiring, hard-working
Filipinos will be secure in the knowledge that they have
something to look forward to when they finally retire,”
he said. |
